when just 58 percent of students actively seeking
internships had access to accredited slots and 22 percent of
applicants didn’t place at all.

In another effort to boost the creation of internships,
APA is funding a fellow, Caroline Bergner, to advocate for
and support efforts to reimburse internship programs for
the services psychology interns provide under Medicaid.
Obtaining that reimbursement “would make a huge
contribution to [internship] program sustainability,” for
example by opening up sites that might not otherwise
be able to have interns and allowing sites to expand their
number of internship slots, Diaz-Granados says.

APA’s stimulus program has also prompted other
professional psychology groups to create their own
stimulus plans. These include Div. 16 (School Psychology)
(see www.apadivisions.org/division-16/awards/
internships.aspx); APPIC; and the National Register of
Health Service Psychologists, which is partnering with
the American Psychological Foundation to raise at least
$250,000 to help increase the number of accredited
internships. The National Council of Schools and
Programs of Professional Psychology has also developed
such a plan.

Having sufficient high-quality internships for all
graduate students is a win for everyone — students, the
public and the profession, says APA Deputy Director of
Education Catherine Grus, PhD.

“It is heartening to see that APA’s investment in
the internship stimulus program — and the efforts of
other organizations on behalf of the next generation of
psychologists — are having an impact,” she says. n

— Tori DeAngelis

To find out more about accessing funds to get your program
ready for accreditation, contact Jackie Tyson, APA associate
executive director for education, at jtyson@apa.org.